My name is Maura Ryan and I live in Co Limerick with my mum. My family call me Molly. My business is called Cards by Molly Madra 21. I have two sisters and one brother. I like spending time with my family and I visit them in Kerry and Tipperary. I’m the youngest in the family and I have Down syndrome.
y family helps me with my business. I go to a training centre during the week in Tipperary called The Hub and have met lots of new friends. We go to the gym and go swimming and do art and new courses. I like it very much.
My sister Caitríona and I started out making cards so I was able to have a little job. It can be hard for people with Down syndrome to get jobs sometimes.
I love dogs and my dog is called Toto. During lockdown, we used to have fun nights at home. I dressed up like Dorothy because my dog Toto is like the dog from the Wizard of Oz, and we had Abba nights too. I love dancing and I do ballet at the Dance Academy in Limerick and I love Zumba.
When we started making cards, they were for people who love dogs, but now we have lots of new cards, as well as Irish ones. My favourite is the one that says Grá Mór, which means ‘big love’.
Our cards make people happy. I love doing videos for my Instagram page. This makes me feel proud. Lots of people all over Ireland have sent me lovely messages when they get their cards in the post, even Leo Varadkar.
I love doing card deliveries to the local vets also and going to the post office to post orders. I like putting on my hoodie with my logo: Unleashing Potential.
When we collect our cards from our graphic designer, I fold and pack all the cards. I like to keep busy. People often take photos of their cards and send them to me on my Instagram page and this makes me smile. We also make prints with my slogans on them. I do videos for my Instagram page and they make me proud.
I love doing pop-up stands in supermarkets and at fashion shows. I meet new people and they take their time listening to me and learning what I do. I have to work hard at speaking in public but I am always proud when I do. Sometimes words are tricky to pronounce but people are very kind to me.
I like Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show. I like when he says, ‘There is one for everybody in the audience’. I practise this sentence every Friday. One day I might meet Ryan and give everybody in the audience one of my cards.
Last year I saw a project called The Perfect Gift on Instagram. The ladies give gift baskets to new babies born with Down syndrome. I thought this was lovely. When I see a new baby with Down syndrome, I think of an angel.
My sister and I made a special range of cards celebrating Down syndrome and I sent some to The Perfect Gift, so new babies got something nice from me. My favourite card says ‘I’m Rocking My Extra Chromosome’.
This year, for World Down Syndrome Day, on March 21, I was invited with some friends to a photo shoot with Dunnes Stores. It was very exciting seeing the posters up in the shops in Limerick. Everybody in the photo shoot was a member of Down Syndrome Limerick, who do a lot of hard work. I like that the photo shoot celebrated people with Down syndrome. This is very good to see.
In the future, I would like it if lots of people knew about my business and sent cards to their friends. In the summer, I want to do more pop-ups and keep making people happy with my cards and prints.
I will keep thinking of new ideas for my cards and making new videos too. I love my little business and I hope that everybody knows you can do hard things if you tell yourself every day: ‘I can do this.’
To buy Maura’s cards and prints, see cardsbymollymadra21.ie, where you can also learn more about her story, her dog Toto, and why some slogans mean more to her than others. On her Instagram, @mollymadra21, check out dance routines and messages from happy customers.
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